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SPEECH 



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(OF KENTUCKY,) 



DELIVERED IN THE 



NATIONAL C ON V E N T [ O N 



Wliig Yoiiiig Men of the United iStates, 



ASSE3IBLED AT BALTIMORE, MAY 4th & .5th, 1840. 



Observkr <5c Rkporikr Prist, Lexi.vgton, Kt. 

1811. 



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IV CKCKAlirfSE 
JOlN^ 1915 



fi 



SPEECH, 



Mr. WicKLiFPE, having been selected by the Delegation from Ken- 
tucky, to address the Convention on behalf of that Commonwealth, 
spoke substantially as follows: 

.¥r. President: — An epoch has arrisen in the history of the Whig 
party. For the first time within the last eight years, we present an 
undivided front. Hitherto, our strength has been wasted, and our num- 
bers divided between rival candidates, from various quarters of the 
Union. In a party that was bound together by principle, and not by 
the strong tie of public plunder, it was natural to expect that men 
would entertain and indulge personal preferences, and be incapable of 
that rigid discipline and implicit obedience by which the adiierents of 
power have ever been distinguished. The day of disunion and of de- 
feat is past. Our party is now not only rallied around the same stan- 
dard, but led on by the same commander. If the bravery of the troops 
be equal to the skill and gallantry of our veteran leader; if the war- 
worn soldier, covered with laurels in many a hard-fought battle, and 
decked with bays from many a civic field, be an object worthy of the 
gratitude and admiration of a generous people; if the genius of Amer- 
ican liberty and the spirit of republican institutions be most fully era- 
bodied in him who is equally prepared to wield ihe sword or the plough; 
if this republic be not yet sunk in corruption and lost to all sense of 
trutli and justice — victory, sure and lasting, awaits us and the great 
principles which we have so long struggled to uphold. For the brilliant 
prospect that lies befoi'C us; for the new life and zeal that cheer us and 
our constituents, we are indebted to the deliberations of the Ilarrisburg 
Convention. Called into existence by the unanimous voice of the 
whig party, and composed of some of the most gifted and venerable 
men of whom the republic could boast, its decree wont forth and was 
received with applauding shouts by Whig America. To carry into ef- 
fect the deliberations of that Convention; to secure the election of the 



candidates whom it has nominated, and to enlist, in their cause, the 
youth, the genius and the chivalry of the land, are the objects for which 
this vast assemblage of the whig youKg men of the United States has 
been convened. The conscript fathers have declared that the republic 
is in danger, and have called upon us for assistance and relief. Let our 
zeal and alacrity in repairing hither; let our sleepless and unfailing ef- 
forts at home, proclaim that we have not been indifferent to the call. 
The American soil is a field upon which good seed was sown by our 
fathers; but the lares have appeared among the blades, and choked the 
grain. But the time of harvest is nigh at hand, and the people will 
bind the tares in bundles, to burn them, and gather the wheat into a 
barn. 

Mr. President, the struggle in November next will be the mightiest 
that has taken place in this country since the civil and political revolu- 
tion of 1801. They who hold the reins of government will not tame- 
ly surrender their ill-gotten and long abused pov.er. It must be wrench- 
ed from their death-like grasp by the strong hands and stout hearts of 
an insulted and betrayed, but generous and patriotic people. The odds 
against which we contend, are truly fearful. On the one side, is the 
Chief Magistrate of the Union, with all the pov.er and patronage be- 
longing to the executive department of the Government. By means 
of the National Treasury and the countless officers in the service of the 
Administration, a standing army is raised and quartered in every cor- 
ner of the country, and the watch-word conveyed with the utmost se- 
crecy and despatch from the highest chieftain to the lowest vassal. To 
break down this formidable array, the people have brought forward a 
citizen soldier, unaided by the public purse, and unsustained by the 
public patronage. He holds not in his hands the national purse strings, 
to bribe and corrupt the peoj)le u-ith their own money. He has not a 
hundred thousand office holders to drill and discipline his party. He 
appeals to his civil and military careir, to the purity of his private life, 
grafted upo.n the principles of his public conduct. He relies upon his 
past history and his present poverty, as the best evidence of his honesty. 
He recalls to the memory of his countrymen, the long line of illustricus 
services whicli he has rendored the republic. He throws himself, for 
support, upon the firmness and patriotism of the nation; upon the great 
principles of constitutional freedom, and upon the integrity and intelli- 
gence of the mass C'f the pcoplo, with whoFO feelings and interests he is 



BO thoroughly familiar and iileiuified. His talents, indeed, have been 
underrated, and his services depreciated. Impartial history, however, 
proclaims that he has not received, from his country, the rewards which 
he so richly deserves. Even in Athens, ungrateful as she was, it was 
not an unusual honor paid lo those who had grown grey in the pub- 
lic service, to be feasted at the public expense. If skill and 
conduct in the cabinet; if valor and patriotism in the field, still meet 
with an echo from the hearts of the American people, the day is not far 
distant when a place in the Prytaneum Vv'ill be awarded to the farmer of 
North Bend, and the hero of Tippecanoe. 

Is it right, Mr. President, that one half of the intellect and virtue of 
this land shall be forever excluded from the councils of the country] 
Is it right that the Chief Ivlagistrate of the Union shall continue to be 
the President of a party, and not the President of the people] How 
long shall we be whirled rcund this circle of miserable shifts and tem- 
porary expedients] What change can be a change for the worse] Did 
not the dominant party destroy the National Bank and force the country 
into the State Bank system] Did they not break down internal im- 
provements of a national character, and impose that burden upon the 
States] And do they not now attempt to retreat from their own policy, 
and saddle the whigs with all the odium v>'hich its adoption h.as in- 
curred] The Executive has continued to wage an unconstitutional 
war upon the credit, the commerce, and the currency of the country. 
His adherents have not only deprived single members of their seats, 
but sovereign States of their representaticn, upon the floor of Congress. 
His whole administration is marked by imbecility and corruption, in the 
Cabinet; by disasters and defeat, in the field; by a keen regard for the 
interests of the Government, and an entire neglect of those of the peo- 
ple. A new pilot is needed to guide our w-ar-worn and tempest-tossed 
vessel through the shoals and storms that now threaten a political ship- 
wreck, and that pilot is to be found on the banks of the Ohio. 'J'he 
farmer of North Bend has often steered the ship of State, but never did 
the stars of midnight find him, like Palinurus, asleep at the helm. 

The whigs are charged with inconsistency, in having heretofore warn- 
ed the country against military chieftains, and in now bringing forward 
for the Presidency, a veteran soldier, whose palmiest days have been 
spent in the camp, and some of uhose brightest laurels have been pluck- 
ed in the tented field. The ground, however, which they then took. 



6 

and which they now occupy, is precisely the same. A mere military 
chieftain is unfit to be the Chief Magistrate of this republic. His 
views of government are founded on the rigid discipline of the camp; 
he is too apt to regard the citizen as inferior to the soldier; and an un- 
holy ambition too often leads him to rear his own greatness upon the 
ruins of his country. I will not, sir, disturb the retirement of him who 
reposes at the Hermitage. I will not pluck a single bay from that 
never-dying wreath which his victorious arms gained on the plains of 
New Orleans. I will not dwell upon the spots that stained his cam- 
paigns against the Indians in the South. Impartial history proclaims 
that he was a brave commander, but a poor civilian— a mere military 
chieftain, and elevated to the Presidency by his military fame alone. 
The miseries which his administration has brought upon this unhappy 
country, are so deep rooted and so wide spread, that after ages will 
scarcely believe that we could have endured or passed through them. 
Posterity will be incredulous that our people could have been so out- 
raged and oppressed, and yet did not rise in rebellion; that our currency 
could have been so often stabbed to the heart, and yet was able to reel 
beneath the strong thrusts of the executive arm; that our commerce 
could have been so entirely prostrated, and yet was able to survive an 
almost universal bankruptcy and ruin. They will wonder that the spir- 
it of our gallant army could have been so thoroughly broken, and yet 
struggled to outlive the disasters and disgrace by which its enemies 
hoped" it would be overwhelmed; that the strides of executive power 
and national corruption could have been so vast, and yet that some sparks 
of independence still shone in the halls of Congress, and some rays of 
liberty still warmed the nation at large. They will thank Heaven that 
although the temple of the Constitution -..-as sacrilegiously entered; its 
noble symmetry destroyed, and its fair proportions distorted; yet, that a 
few pillars and fragments remained, around which the friends of free- 
dom rallied, and, recovering the remnants of the sacred structure, again 
reared it in all its ancient beauty and gorgeous grandeur. ^Vho, how- 
ever, is so well <iualified to be the ruler of a free people, as he who is 
equally fitted to discharge the duties both of peace and war! Was not 
Milton right, when he said that /us education was the most perfect, who 
was prepared to fill any station, cither civil or n.ilitary, to which he 
might be called by the voice of his cou.itry^ If Cen. Harrison be a 
more elegant writer, a more powerful orator, and a more accomplished 



speaker than Mr. Van liureii/sliall we be tuunted that he cxcells hhn 
also in couching a lance, in pitching a tent, and leading on the Ameri- 
can mil ilia to victory over the veteran regulars of Britain? 

Mr. President, the terms of office sliould be in an inverse ratio to their 
powers and dignity. It is a principle founded on a knowledge of the 
human heart, and the tendency of human affairs. It was a vital part 
of the policy of ancient Rome, and was a main-spring of the great- 
ness of that renowned republic. By the Federal Constitution, the 
President is chosen for four years, but no limit is fixed to the number 
of terms for which he may be re-elected. The father of his country 
set the example of serving only eight years, which none of his succes- 
sors have dared, if they desired, to disregard. When Gen. Hamilton 
wrote in^defence of the powers of the Executive, he construed those 
powers as they were really conferred by the constitution, and presumed 
that no incumbent would have the audacity or the consent of the peo- 
ple to stretch or transcend them. Had he lived in our day, he would 
not have^compared them to the authority of the Governor of N. York, 
but would have likened them in'many respects to the prerogatives of 
British royalty. The English monarch has an absolute, while our 
Chief Magistrate possesses only a qualified negative upon the acts of 
the legislature. Yet, since the reign of William HI, what King of 
England has dared to veto an act of Parliament] If any member of 
the House of Hanover had presumed to exercise this alarming power 
half so often as it was exerted by the late President of the U. States, 
he would have shared the fate of Charles I, and have found, from ex- 
perience, how few are the steps from the throne to the scaffold. Is not 
his whole cabinet frequently forced upon his Brittanic Majesty, and can 
any Prime Minister long withstand a majority in the House of Com- 
mons? What control does Congress practically possess over the Secre- 
taries of the different Departments? What check do even the purse- 
strings of the nation^enable it to hold over the President and his 
countless dependents? The Executive department, like Aaron's ser- 
pent, has swallowed up the rest. The tendency of the government is 
towards consolidation. The centripetal force of the system is too 
strong, and must be restrained. What is tlie occupation of the Presi- 
dent, for the first term, but to lay his plans, train his followers, and se- 
cure his re-election for a second? Will he employ honest and talented 
men, when he can buy up heated partisans who will promote his self- 



ieh purposes) \'\ ill he bo guided by ptitriotism and virtue, when he 
sees that bribery and corruption are more efficient engines of political 
power] Will he net be influenced by the popularity rather than the 
wisdom of his measures, when the strongest feellnga and most powerful 
interests impel him to regard the permanence rather than the glory of 
hisadministrationT I must here pause, Mr. President, and bow before 
the prophetic wisdom of Patrick Henry. Immortalized, by the first of 
modern bards, as the forest-born Demosthenes, his claims to never-dying 
renown, as a Statesman, will not be the less honored by the most dis- 
tant posterity. His keen and far-reaching eye foresaw the dreadful 
arrogance and alarming usurpations of the Executive. His great mind 
pierced beyond the narrow horizon which bounded the vision of common 
men, and saw, behind the curtain of futurity, that baneful rapacity 
which has since stript and desecrated the fairest fabric ever built by the 
hand of man) I wish that the same warning voice which once thun- 
dered in the Virginia Convention, could now be heard in the remotest 
cabin in the country. Amidst the black clouds and lowering storms 
that darken the heavens, a rainbow has at length appeared. The enthu- 
siasm with which the people have received the proposal to limit the 
Presidency to one term, and the moral certainty of General Harrison's 
election, are the harbingers that announce the approach of a political 
Millennium, Let this great principle, and the recorded promise of our 
-candidate to carry it out, like the pillar which led the Children of Israel 
through the wilderness, ever be kept in the sight of the people. 

Having retired from the army, after the return of peace, and served as 
Secretary and ex-qljicio as Lieutenant Governor of the North-Western 
Territory, Gen. Harrison was, in 17G9, elected, by his fellow-citizens, 
their delegate in Congress. Althougli thrown into the national councils 
at a very "early ago, and surrounded by some of the brightest and most 
illustrious names that ever adorned the Senate House, yet he was not 
an inactive or undistinguished representative of the people. At that 
time, as ever since, the public lands were a subject of deep interest and 
vital' importance in the western country. 'Jhe national domain had 
hitherto been sold only in large tracts of not less than four thousand 
acres, and liad been bought and monopolized by land-jobbers and specu- 
lators. The poor planter of the h=outh, a.:d the hardy yeoman of the 
North, were unable to purcha^c such a princely estate, and this heavy 
restraint upon emigration wu. rrjually grievous to the old as well as the 



new members of the confederacy. To the patriotism of Gen. Harrison 
we are indebted for the conception, and to his energy and eloquence for 
t'le adoption of the law, as it now stands. In conjunction with Mr. 
Gallatin, he made a most eloquent and powerful report, in support of the 
Bill, and notwithstanding the violent opposition of some of the most 
distinguished men in Congress, it finally passed through both Houses. 
By this Bill, the public lands, instead of being offered in large tracts of 
four thousand acres, were exposed to sale in sections and half sections 
of 640 and 320 acres. No single law ever passed in Congress, has 
contributed more essentially to the interests and prosperity of the 
western country, and indeed of the whole union, than this maiden 
measure of our youthful statesman. The frosts by which the prospects 
of the poor emigrant had so long been chilled, were now dispelled by 
the bright rays of hope, liberty and ii.dependence. No man was now 
so humble as to despair of buying a home for himself and his family, 
and of owning the fee-simple of his little farm as perfectly as the proud- 
est landlord in the nation. The tide of emigration, hitherto slow 
and small, now sv.^elled, and has for nearly half a century flowed on, 
without the sign of a single ebb. Our wealth and numbers; the free 
spirit and manly independence of our people; the vast weight which the 
west possesses in the councils of the nation, and the boundless prospect 
of growth and grandeur that lies before us — all that we have, and all 
that we hope to be, may, in part, be traced to this memorable Bill. I 
would say of it, as an English Chancellor said of the Statute of Frauds, 
that ''every letter is worth a guinea." 

Mr. President, tor thirteen successive years, Gen. Harrison was ap- 
pointed Governor of Indiana. Deriving his commissions from Adams, 
Jefferson and Madison, his re-appointment was always demanded by 
the voice of the people. The delicate and responsible duties of this 
high station, he discharged in a manner eminently satisfactory to the 
people and the various Presidents by whom he had been chosen. Clo- 
thed with the extraordinary power of dividing the districts into coun- 
ties and townships, and of giving, by his bare signature, a legal title to 
large tracts of land, to persons who possessed only an equitable claim, 
!ie had the amplest opportunities of accumulating a princely fortune. 
From Verres down to Hastings, the Governors of distant territories 
have been noted for peculation, public plunder, and every species of ra- 
pacitv and oppression. Neither a Tully or a Sheridan, liowevcr, could 



10 

have found in the conduct of Gen. Harrison, tlie slightest room for de- 
nunciation or abuse. Possessing a most intimate knowledge of the 
Indian character, and deeply rooted in the good will and affections of 
the people and their representatives, he was the most popular and suc- 
cessful Governor that ever wielded the destinies of an American Ter- 
ritory. Under a commission from Jefferson, he concluded, with various 
tribes of Indians, not less than thirteen treaties, and secured to the 
United States more than sixty millions of acres. The greater part of 
the North-Western Territory was thus purchased of the Indians by his 
diplomacy, defended against the British by his sword, and peopled with 
a hardy yeomanry by the great Bill which, at the early age of twenty- 
six years, he passed through the American Congress. The advice of 
lago to Roderlgo, to buy more land and put more money in his purse, is 
a prudent admonition not disregarded by the officers of the present ad- 
ministration. Their salaries are not the only portion of the public 
treasure retained in their hands, and the silly man is laughed at, who 
commits a defalcation for less than a million. The same peculation and 
public robbery which a few years since damned a man to eternal infamy 
and the basest punishment, now commend him to favor and preferment. 
In the language of the Roman moralist: 

"Multi 
Coiiiniittunt eaclein diverso criniina fato 
Ille cn.'jCEM, pretiuni sceleris tulit, Hic Diadema." 

Gen. Harrison's life has not been devoted exclusively to the West. 
Besides his services under Gen. Wayne, as Territorial Delegate, Gov- 
ernor of Indiana, Indian Commissioner, Member of the Ohio Legisla- 
ture, and Commander-in-Chief of the North-Western Army, his career 
in Congress placed him prominently before the nation as a civilian, and 
was marked by an ardent devotion to constitutional liberty and the prin- 
ciples of the revolution. In December, 1816, Mr. Madison urged up- 
on Congress the re-organization of the I\iilitia, and this portion of his 
ilessage was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, of which 
Gen. Harrison was Chairman. On the second day of the session, he 
offered a resolution instructing the Military Committee to report a Bill 
providing, by law, for the relief of such of the officers and soldiers who, 
having served faithfully in t!ie armies of the United States, were in 
distressed circumstances, and who, not having received wounds or disa- 
bilities, while in actual service, were excluded from the benefit of the 



11 

pension laws then in existence. Tiiis resolution, though not enacted 
into a law at that session, was enforced by Mr. Monroe in his first mes- 
sage; and, the whole subject having again been referred to a select 
committee, of which Gen. Harrison was a member, a Bill was reported, 
which subsequenlly passed both Houses, for the relief of the surviving 
soldiers of the revolution. Mr. President, to the paternity of this Bill, 
which stands upon the statute book a monument of national gratitude, 
Gen. Harrison is justly entitled. Many of those gallant men who had 
achieved the liberties of Ameriea, who had sacrificed their ease and 
fortunes in the cause of their country, and who were borne down by dis- 
tress and the ruthless hand of time, were chtered and sustained by the 
timely relief of this wise and patriotic Bill. The surviving soldiers 
of the revolution found a friend and advocate in a brave General, whose 
tears had often mingled with their own, and al length obtained justice 
from a forgetful country, to whose liberality they had so often and so 
vainly appealed. Who does not regard, with equal pride and pleasure, 
this noble but long-delayed tribute to the bravery and patriotism of that 
gallant band, of which but a small fragment remains, and even that 
fragment totters on the verge of the gravel Who does not appreciate 
.the elevated motives and lofty patriotism of him who conceived and 
carried through this measure, and whose heart beat high at the name of 
liberty, and in unison with her surviving defenders'! W"ho does not en- 
ter into the grateful feelings of the revolutionary soldier, as he thanks 
his country for thus cheering the clouded evening of his days, and in- 
vokes the blessing of Heaven upon the patriot whose warm and devo- 
ted attachment to freedom and her defenders, has driven from his door 
the howling storms of poverty, distress and ruin? Who has not seen 
one of those venerable men, and marked the tear of gratitude as it 
trickled down his furrowed cheek? Who has not seen a smile play upon 
lips, where nought but sorrow sat before? Who has not felt his 
own love of country kindled afresh, when he thus beholds the treasure 
of the Union so generously applied to sustain the wounded and helpless 
defenders of freedom? And who does not envy the secret joy, the un- 
alloyed happiness of the Statesman by whose expanded philanthropy and 
enthusiastic devotion to liberty, all these precious benefits have been 
secured? Inabeautifulfictionof the sweetest of living poets, we are told 
that the Peri who, before she was permitted to enter the gates of Para- 
dise, was required to bring the offoring most grateful to the eye of Ilea- 



1'^ 

ven, at length obtained admission to the regions of the blessed, by 
bringing the tear of a repentant sinner. Next to this holy present, 
what offering more acceptable to the Powers above, and what passport 
to the gates of Heaven more certain, than the tear of the surviving 
soldier of the revolution, shed from overflowing gratitude for the noble 
friendship of their distinguished advocate, and the kind protection of a 
generous country. 

Mr. President, the re -organization of the militia v;as a subject to 
which Gen. Harrison more than once invoked the attention of Con- 
gress, during the years 1817-18. He made an elaborate report, proving 
that the re-modelling of the National Militia was both desirable and 
practicable, and introduced a Bill to carry his views into effect. No 
one could have been better prepared to discuss this subject, and the plan 
which he recommended, although never carried into execution, bears the 
impress of his military genius and science. It is true that no action 
upon this subject could ever be obtained from Congress, and an amend- 
ment of the Constitution was perhaps necessary to warrant the passage 
of the Bill. Who does not know that whole companies and armies that 
fought in the late war came into the field without the slightest proficien- 
cy in military science, or the least skill in military evolutions'? The 
liberties of this republic will be lost as soon as they are entrusted to a 
standing army. What would more speedily diffuse a national spirit and 
generous enthusiasm among the people; what would more effectually se- 
cure their devotion to the Constitution and to constitutional liberty; 
what would be more salulary in forming the principles and training the 
minds as well as the bodies of the young; what would more certainly 
check the thirst for wealth and growth of luxury; what would place 
citizens and communities on a more equal footing, in point of skill and 
strength; in a word, what would be a closer cement of union and a 
stronger fortress of resistance against foreign foes, than a well-armed, 
well disciplined and well-organized National Militia? A despot may 
rely upon his veteran regulars, because he is afi-aid to trust his subjects 
with arms to defend themselves; but the citizen soldier is the only true 
defender of a republic. Let Congress be roused from its apathy; let 
the militia be placed on the strongest and most stable basis that the 
constitution will warrant, and no bold usurper will ever be able to make 
upwards of fifteen millions of freemen the victims of his ambition and 
the instruments of their own dostrnction. And. aUhongli tn the jaun- 



lo 

diced eye of Europe, the Federal Constitution may, like that Tower 
immortalized by Dante, appear every moment ready to fall, yet it will 
for ages stand a curious monument for the instruction and admiration 

of posterity. 

Few measures ever passed in Congress, shewed more clearly the 
sensibility of the nation with regard to the salaries of public officers, 
and its resistless power over her representatives, than the compensation 
law of 181G, However honest the motives and unsullied the charac- 
ters of those who voted in favor of that law, the people disapproved the 
commutation of a per diem allowance into a stated salary, and neither 
talents or popularity could screen the majority of its advocates from 
public odium and political defeat. Although not a member of the 
House of Representatives when the Bill passed, yet at the very next 
session, Gen. Harrison, fresh from the people, warmly advocated its 
repeal. He did not wish to follow^ the aristocratic example of the Brit- 
ish Parliament, and refuse all compensation to the Representatives of 
the People; he did not deny that a comiOetent allow^ance -was necessary 
to secure the talent and integrity of the Nation in the public service; 
but he was unwilling that Members of Congress should do justice to 
themselves before they had done justice to the sufferers of the Revolu- 
tion. He refused to increase the pay of the Congress then in session, 
but, with equal delicacy and judgment, proposed to change the compen- 
sation, for the ensuing Congress, from six to eight dollars. His votes 
on this subject are a key to unlock the character of Gen Harrison, and 
to account for that poverty with which he has been so cruelly taunted 
by the parasites of power. He has walked honestly, as in the day. 
I know that his singleness of purpose is attributed, by political parti- 
sans, to a want of capacity, rather than to purity of character. After 
so many years of public employment, and so many opportunities of 
plundering the public and amassing a princely fortune, his proud boast 
is, that he is obliged to till the soil with his own hand. If, in the ser- 
vice of his country, the small remnant of his fortune should be sacri- 
ficed, and even that log cabin in vvhich he lives should be sold under 
the hammer of the Sheriff, the noblest epitaph that can be carved on 
his tomb, will be that he was buried at the public expense. We read 
in ancient story, that Consuls and Generals, having retired from the 
public service, labored with their own hands to earn a scanty subsist- 
ence, and that delegations sent lo summon them io the Senate House, 



14 

frequently found them with their hands upon the plough. But the age 
of Romantic patriotism and Patrician poverty is past. 

Early in the year 1819, the attention of Congress was called to the 
proceedings of Gen. Jackson in the Seminole war. A report was 
made upon the subject, disapproving the trial and execution of Ar- 
buthnot and Ambrister. Resolutions were introduced by Mr. Cobb, of 
Georgia, disapproving the seizure of the posts of St. Marks and Pen- 
sacola, and the fortress of San Carlos de Barancas, and the invasion of 
the Spanish Territory. These resolutions produced a debate marked 
by the most signal ability and thrilling eloquence, and memorable in 
the political annals of the Republic. Amon^ those who asserted the 
superiority of the civil over the military power, and the right of Con- 
gress to inquire into the conduct of the army and those who command- 
ed it, Gen. Harrison was not undistinguished. Although himself a 
soldier, he knew that the greatest danger to a republic was the relaxa- 
tion of its maxims of security, in favor of distinguished citizens, and 
especially of military chieftains. He boldly proclaimed that if the 
'Father of his country' had authorized the seizure of the Spanish posts, 
he would have held him responsible for such a palpable violation of the 
Federal Constitution and of the Law of Nations. He admitted that 
the execution of Arbuthnot was correct, and did not deny that Ambris- 
ter deserved death. Having no doubt, however, that his execution was 
wrong, and that Gen. Jackson honestly erred in his powers over the 
Court, he called for a division of the question, and voted against dis- 
approving the execution of Arbuthnot, and in favor of candemning that 
of Ambrister. Upon the resolution of the member from Georgia, that 
the seizure of the Spanish Forts was a violation of the Conslilution,he 
voted in the affirmative. His course upon this delicate and important 
subject, was marked by the nicest judgment and the purest priinciplcs 
of patriotism — by a due regard for the fame and feelings of a gallant 
Captain, but an invincible reverence for the independence of the I^e- 
gislature. the liberties of the people, and the Constitution of his coun- 
try. Gen. Jackson was a man who never forgave a fancied Injury or a 
supposed enemy. Twenty years glided away, after the debate on the 
Seminole war, but he did not forget the course pursued by the distin- 
guished member from Ohio. He suffered no statute of limitation to 
bar hie wralh, and nothing but the removal of Gen. Harrison could sa- 
tiate his vengeance. The poiponed arrows of Executive mnlice fell 



15 

harmless at the feet of the citizen soldier. He was indeed removed 
from an office which he never sought, and which could add no dignity 
to his name, but he was not shaken in the confidence and affection of 
his countrymen. The President could not pluck the well-earned lau- 
rels that encircled his brow, or disrobe the Statesman and the soldier of 
the proud mantle which conscious integrity had thrown around his 
whole career. If it ho permissible to carry our minds back to that pe- 
riod when the political horizon was first darkened by that black cloud 
which has since burst upon us with such relentless fury; if we could 
enter into the feelings and passions of Harrison and Jackson at the 
time; if we could perceive the vestal flame of patriotism animating the 
heart of the one, and the fires of suppressed hatred and ill-smothered 
vengeance bursting forth and raging through every vital of the other, 
methinks we would neither envy the power of the ruthless President, 
or pity the fate of the banished Minister. We would find the lines of 
Pope to be in point: 

"And more true joy Marcellus, exUsd, feels, 
Than Ccesar, with a Senate at his heels!" 

Among the many slanders circulated against Gen. Harrison, there is 
one whose absurdity and grossness is only surpassed by the eagerness 
with which it has been spread by the hirelings of a party press. I al- 
lude (o the charge of his having voted, while a member of the Senate 
of Ohio, in favor of selling white men into slavery, for debt. This, 
indeed, would have been a monstrous vote, equally repugnant to hu- 
mantty and justice, and at war with the well known principles and 
long established character of the General himself. What are the 
grounds upon which this charge is founded — this tabulum in navfragio, 
vvhich is to save the whole administration from a watery gravef A 
Bill to amend and revise the criminal code of Ohio is introduced into 
the Legislature of that State. It passes the House of Representatives 
and comes into the Senate, of which Gen. Harrison is a member. 
Heretofore all thefts, over ten dollars, have been punished by confine- 
ment in the Penitentiary, and the consequence is that these sliort im- 
prisonments are unproductive and bring the Commonwealth into debt. 
The only mode of relief is to place the Institution under better manage- 
ment, and to diminish the number of tmall ofienders. A clause is in- 
serted in the Bill, increasing the minimum amount for the stealing of 
■which a man shall be incarcerated, from ten to fifty dollars. The ques- 



16 

cion then arises, what shall be done with those who steal sums under 
fifty dollars'! Shall they go unpunished! That would encourage petty 
larcenies, and give license to the lowest and most- worthless vagabonds. 
Shall stripes be inflicted at the public whipping post] That is a cruel, 
degrading and notorious punishment, which, instead of reforming, makes 
the convict desperate and lawless. Shall they be thrown into a jail, 
that receptacle of vice, where criminals, of all ages, colors and sexes, 
are indiscriminately huddled together, and where the miserable ii,raates, 
contaminated by their own converse, swear fresh vengeance against the 
world, and plan new crimes before they have paid the penalty of those 
already committed! A proposition is made that the vagabonds by whom 
these petty pilferings are committed, shall be hired out to prudent and 
discreet persons, until, by their own labor, they have paid the fines and 
costs of prosecution. It is a most wise, humane and benevolent propo- 
sition, and if Howard, the philanthropist, had been a member of the 
Ohio Senate, he would have voted in its favor, and would have regarded 
its adoption as a most important improvement in the Penal Code, and a 
rapid stride in the cause of human liberty and social happiness. It did 
not subject the unfortunate debtor to the whim and tyranny of a griping 
creditor, but was levelled at infamous offenders, and, by a mild but effi- 
cacious punishment, placed them under a restraint equally wholesome 
for themselves and beneficial to their country. It would be strange, in- 
deed, if he w-hose votes are recorded en the Journals of Congress in 
favor of the abolition of imprisonment for debt; whose boast and pleas- 
ure it was, in the field, to cherish and protect the poor soldier and 
wounded officer, and whose pride and glory it has ever been to espouse 
the cause of their widows and orphan?, should have avowed a hostility 
or entered upon a crusade against the wretched and unfortunate. It 
required but litllo sagacity to see that a plain farmer might not himself 
forever be e.^iemptfrom pecuniary difficulties, and might be the very first 
victim of the law which he had contributed to enact. He might have 
remembered the fate of that man who suffered death from the very 
guillotine which he himself had invented, and of him who was confined 
in the same labyrintli which his own hands had constructed. Otliello''s 
offence was not more magnified before ihc Venetian Senate, than lias 
this vote of Gen. Harrison been misrepresented before the An)eric:iu 
people; nor was the defence of the noble Moor more complete and tri- 
uinpluuit than the simple statement which this venerable patriot has 



17 

published in his vindication. Having said thus much of the civil char- 
acter and history of Gen. Harrison, let us now acknowledge the ser- 
vices which he has rendered the republic on the field of battle. 

When the youthful Lafayette left his native land — broke from all the 
endearments of the friendly circle and the family hearth, and gave up 
the ease and luxury to which he was born, to fight the battles of liberty 
on a distant continent, and to aid a handfull of oppressed colonists 
against the arbitrary power of the British realm, the world beheld an 
instance of heroic self-sacrifice and generous devotion to freedom, which 
it will be the delight of all ages to admire and applaud. The same 
spirit that impelled, and the same success that followed this glorious act 
of that illustrious personage, stamped with immortality the first essay 
in the service of his country made by that distinguished citizen whom 
the whig party has presented to the American people for the highest 
office within their gift. What, sir, are the military services of Gen. 
Wm. H. Harrison? The record of his fame fills one of the brightest 
pages in the History of the Republic. The renovv^n of his name con- 
stitutes the common property of his countrymen. 'J he son of a mem- 
ber of the first Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence, he was early trained in the genuine principles of sound Repub- 
licanism. Designed for the peaceful pursuits of professional life, his 
youthful ardor and patriotic ambition fixed upon the army as the theatre 
of his exertions, and led him into the active service of his country. 
The flame of the Revolutionary War had indeed been quenched, but 
the embers still remained. The British had not yet abandoned all 
hopes of conquering America. Under various pretences, they had re- 
fused to surrender the most important forts. From the principal sta- 
tions, the Indians were bribed by British gold, and spurred on by British 
emissaries, to the most horrible butchery of the whites. The whole 
North Western Territory was exposed to the ravages of these ruthless 
cannibals. The burning of towns, the demolition of forts, the devasta- 
tion of fertile fields, the murder of men, women and children, filled that 
vast region with terror and desolation. The defenceless borderers were 
massacred without regard to age, sex, or rank. Disaster and defeat at- 
tended our arms. A gallant army, under Gen. Harmar, had been rout- 
ed and almost annihilated, at the Miami Village, In the very next year, 
Gen. St. Clair, with more than a thousand men, were destroyed by the 
confederated Indians under Little Turtle The vhole frontier was 

3 



18 

thus exposed and defenceless; the Indians were victorious, in every 
quarter, and the whole country was filled with consternation and 
alarm. To repair our losses, and to retrieve our disgrace, Gen. Wayne 
W'as summoned, by the 'Father of his country,' to command the armies 
of the Republic. It was at this gloomy period of our National affairs, 
and during this defenceless condition of the Western Frontier, that a 
student, not yet twenty -one years of age, left his father's stately man- 
sion, in Virginia, and repaired to the standard of his country. He 
came, as a volunteer, to ofler his services in the defence of the Re- 
public. The name which he bore was indeed honored and not undis- 
tinguished in the councils of his country. But the hardy veteran who 
had now assumed the command, was bred in a school that recognized 
no superiority but that of merit. The youthful patriot, with a modesty 
becoming his age, assumed a station suited to his experience. At first 
an humble ensign, bearing, with his own hands, that same American 
Eagle which was afterwards to wave in triumph over his head ai Tip- 
pecanoe and the Thames, he was in time promoted to a Lieutenancy, 
and by his skill and valor, having attracted the notice of Wayne, was 
at length appointed Aid du Camp to the General. I shall not follow 
the veteran Commander and his young Lieutenant through all the hard- 
fought battles of their long and arduous campaigns. I shall not enu- 
merate the instances of fearless valor and consummate skill displayed 
by both, through the whole course of the war. I will not describe that 
glorious victory, gained by their united arms, at the Miami. The 
proudest monument of the gallantry and achievements of Gen. Harri- 
son, is the noble testimony of his own brave commander: <'My faithful 
and gallant Aid du Camp, Lieut. Harrison," (says that honest old sol- 
dier,) rendered the most essential service, by communicating my orders, 
in every direction, and by his conduct and bravery exciting the troops 
to press for victory." 

Long before the beginning of the late War, the Indians, brooding 
over their disasters and defeats, had resolved to attack all the American 
BCttlements, and exterminate all the American people in the Mississippi 
valley. A Prophet had arisen up among them, who pretended to be 
inspired by the Great Spirit. Artful, cunning and treacherous, he add- 
ed another instance to the revoking catalogue of human credulity and 
imposture. He was aided, if not instigated, in all his schemes, by hia 
celebrated brother. 'J'ecumseh was undoubtedly one of the greatest 



19 

men recorded in ancient or modern history. Equally fkvoted as a pa- 
triot and daring as a warrior, he had conceived the grand idea of uni- 
ting the Southern and North- Western Indians, in a confedera- 
cy, against the whites. The conception was worthy of a noble, gen- 
erous and gigantic mind. It was enforced by him with an eloquence 
that would not have disgraced a Henry, and executed with a zeal and 
industry of which a Hancock and an Adams might well have been 
proud. Gen. Harrison was at that time Governor of Indiana. Aware 
of the schemes of Tecumseh and the Prophet, he determined to cut 
them off before they were ripe for execution. With this view, and at 
his own earnest request and tJiat of the inhabitants of the Territory, ho 
was authorized to attack the Indian station on the Wabash. Mark, sir, 
his consummate skill and Fabian prudence, in marching through thst 
wilderness filled with ravines and narrow passes, and exposed as he 
was at every step to marauding Indians and deadly ambuscades. No 
defeat, like that of Braddock; no routs, like those of Ilarmar and St. 
Clair, disgraced his arms. He preserved his brave troops, free from 
every danger and safe from every assault, and with the profoundest 
caution and most consummate skill, encamped them, at length, securely, 
on the Wabash. Here, sir, was fought, the Battle of Tippecanoe, one 
of the most desperate and important engagements recorded in the an- 
nals of modern warfare. Here was crushed, in its bud, that grand and 
alarming scheme which Tecumseh and the Prophet had so long cher- 
ished. On that glorious field, the best blood of Kentucky was poured 
out, like water. It was there that the brave Wells and the veteran 
Owen died, in defence of their country. It uas there that the gallant 
Croghan and his comrades, (afterwards so distinguished in the army of 
the United States,) first fleshed their maiden swords. Cut, above all, it 
was there that the gifted, the generous and the chivalric Daviess fell. 
The ornament of the bar and the pride of Kentucky; gifted with a bril- 
liant fancy and a soaring genius; endowed with an eloquence that 
charmed while it convinced, he was one of the first lawyers and orators 
of his age. Fired with military ambition, and thirsting for military 
renown, his genius led him from the Forum to ihe Field. In the prime 
of life, and with all the knowledge of war that can be gained by Ftudy 
and in the closet, had he lived, he would have been one of the first mil- 
itary commanders that America has ever produced. JIo fell, but he fell, 
sir, like Epaminondas, in ihn artn,=i of victory, and died with joy, bpcaiisa 



20 

he died in defence of his country. Kentucky was covered with mourn- 
ing, and although her heart was well-nigh crushed by the loss of her 
darling sons, yet her generous soul pei-ceived the advantages of the 
victory, and warmly aclcnowledged the gallantry and services of Gen. 
Harrison, A memorable event, planned with prudence, conducted with 
firmness, and follov.'ed by the most important consequences, the Battle 
of Tippecanoe is an evergreen wreath in the chaplet of our national 
renown. It was truly pronounced, by Langdon Cheves, on the floor of 
Congress, to be a victory which, in the best days of the Roman Re- 
public, would have entitled a General to the honors of a triumph. It 
was justly resolved by the Legislature of Kentucky, that in the cam- 
paign against the Indians, on the Wabash, Gov. VV. H. Harrison had, 
in their opinion, behaved like a Hero, a Patriot and a General; and, for 
his cool, skillful and gallant conduct in the Battle of Tippecanoe, well 
deserved the warmest thanks of the nation. 

Mr. President: within the limits of my native State, yet live many 
of those gallant men who fought in the last war, and t'le number is 
still larger of those who recollect the enthusiasm with whicJi the peo- 
ple of Kentucky volunteered and begged to be enrolled in the service of 
their country. The most respectable mechanics and substantial farm- 
ers; the most wealthy citizens, distinguished jurists and celebrated ora- 
tors responded with equal zeal and alaci'ity to the call of duty, honor 
and patriotism. The commonwealth was turned into a camp, and 
nothing was to be seen but soldiers and parades. Upwards of seven 
thousand warriors flocked from this State alone, and appeared to the 
affrighted Indians, thick as the leaves in their own trackless forests. 
The question was not, who should be allowed to stay, but, who should 
be permitted to gol The leaders of those gallant bands were men, the 
mention of whose names will forever thrill the heart of every Ken- 
tuckian. When will the time come when Daviess, and Allen, and Hart, 
and Simpson, and Graves, and their gallant compeers, will not be cher- 
ished by a grateful and admiring people] Will the day ever arrive 
when the lamented Dudley will not find an urn in the hearts of his 
countrymen? Kentucky applies to her gallant song the words of the 
deathless bard: 

"O! ii there be o.i this earthly splicre, 

A boon, an oflcrinjj IleAven hoUs clear, 

'Tis the last libation which I/ibert}' draws, 

From the heart tha: breaks nn<l bleeds in her cause.'' 



2i 

Who, sir, ^yas summoned to lead this North-Western Army, and 
who was invested with the command of these Kentucky troops'? The 
Constitution of that State forbids the appointment of any person to the 
command of our militia who is not a citizen of ihe Commonwealth; 
yet, by the advice of Isaac Shelby and other distinguished men, the 
Governor gave Gen. Harrison a brevet commission of Mf.jor General in 
the Kentucky militia. The appointment was demanded by the voice 
of the Kentucky people, and joyfully hailed by the Kentucky troops. 
Let the successive captures of Fort Meigs, the invasion of Upper Can- 
ada, and that glorious victory achieved on the Thames, bear witness to 
the wisdom of the choice. Under Gen. Harrison, the Kentucky forces 
were led to victory and renown. They were never defeated, except in 
detachments under officers who disobeyed his orders and failed to exe- 
cute his plans. Many of those brave soldiers are scattered throughout 
the limits of that patriotic Commonwealth. Their old commander is 
deeply rooted in their hearts. The remembrance of their common ser- 
vices and sufierings fills their minds with affectionate admiration and 
gratitude. They believe him honest and capable, and, in 1840, will 
support him with the same alacrity and zeal with wliich they defended 
his stondard in the swamps and marshes of the North-Western frontier. 
Mr. President: there is no character so pure as to be free from asper- 
sion, and no fame so exalted as to be exempt from envy. Men have 
been found so insensible to truth and justice, and so corrupted by their 
own malignant passions, as to charge Gen. Harrison with the want of 
that courage which marks the soldier, and of that conduct which stamps 
the general. The massacre on the Raisin has been imputed to him. 
But does not every man w'ho served in the campaign know, that Gen. 
Winchester advanced with his detachment to the Raisin without the 
knowledge and against the orders of the Commander-in-Chief] Was 
not Harrison perfectly surprised at the secrecy and confounded at the 
rashness of this iil-fated expedition? Did he not strain every nerve and 
make every exertion to re-inforce this unfortunate detachment"? His 
orders to abandon Lower Sandusky have been ascribed to cowardice and 
a want of Generalship. But was not that Fort an exposed, distant and 
unimportant out-post? Was it not threatened with a seige by a large 
and powerful army, and was it not the policy of the General to concen- 
trate his forces, so as to save the whole army from destruction and the 
whole country from invasion? Did not Croghan himself acknowledge 



2*2 

the propriety of his orders, and would lie not have obeyed them had 
they been received in titnel Was not tlie defence of Sandusky render- 
ed a matter of desperate necessity, by the large parties of scouts and 
Indians who hovered around it, and was not its preservation a miracle 
which could not, with any reason, have been anticipated. The num- 
ber of those who will find fault with Gen. Harrison's campaigns is lar- 
ger than those who would have found it agreeable to have aided him in 
fighting them. He who shall go about the streets assailing the virtue 
of a patriot and the valor of a soldier, shall indeed not want hearers. 
But I would advise these chimney-corner heroes to be assured that their 
courage in peace is like fire in summer; to rest contented with their 
natural insignificance; to be informed that a generous Republic will nev- 
er fail to honor and rewaid those who liave led her armies to victory 
and guided her councils to glory and renown. 

Mr. President: I have thus endeavored to defend the civil and mili- 
tary career of Gen. Harrison, and to advance, by pure appeals to reason 
and to history, his pretentions to the Presidency. His Generalship has 
been more traduced, and his talents more underrated than those of any 
man in America. The honors which have so long been deferred by a 
forgetful country, will now be heaped upon him with ten-fold interest. 
We support the man who holds in his pocket a commission from every 
President, from Washington down to the younger Adams; who has 
served in the highest stations, both civil and military, and discharged 
the duties of all with equal talent and integrity; who, by his energy 
and eloquence, as a member of the Ohio Legislature, Governor of the 
Indiana Territory, Delegate to Congress, Senator of the United States, 
and Minister to Colombia, defended the libertie.«: and advanced the in- 
terests of his country. We support the man in favor of whose consum- 
mate skill and devoted patriotism a most important provision in the 
Constitution of Kentucky was suspended, and who, against usage and 
the fundamental law, was appointed Commander in-Chief of the Ken- 
tucky forces in the North- Western Army. We support the man who 
fought the battles of Fort Meigs, Tippecanoe and the 'J'hames; but 
above all, we support the man to whom has been confided the disburse- 
ment of millions, and yet whose fingers have never been soiled even 
with the gold dust from the public Treasury. Though the battle may 
every where else be given up, yet there is a "dark and bloody ground" 
where every blade of grass v.-jll be contested nt the point of the bayonet. 



23 

If every other Btar shall fall from the political firmament, there ia one 
bright luminary which will still career through the clear upper sky, 
with renewed heat and increased eflFulgence. If every other vessel shall 
founder amidst the shoals and storms that now threaten a political ship- 
wreck, there is one gallant bark which will still ride on the billows, un- 
til it is at last anchored securely in the harbor of the Constitution. It 
was the boast of a great Marshal of France, when the armies of the 
republic were mowed down, by myriads, on the frozen snows of Musco- 
vy, that he fired the last cannon in the last detachment of the grand 
army of the empire. If, in the assault which the whigs will make upon 
the strong fortress of Executive power and national corruption, they 
shall again be driven from the battlements and forced to retire from the 
glorious struggle, Kentucky will be the last to retreat— to surrender, 
she will never censent— and it will be her proud boast and eternal mon- 
ument, that she fired the last cannon in the last detachment of the Grand 
Army of Liberty. 



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